Drunk driver jailed for seven years

Jonathan Knowles, 33, has been sentenced to seven years in jail for killing a married couple from Northwood after he lost control of the car and swerved on to the pavement. The court heard that he had been made bankrupt the previous day and had been drinking that evening, when he chose to drive the short distance to his home.

Alan Bernard, 53, and wife Rochelle, 51, died last September when the car driven by Mr Knowles crashed into them as they were walking down a road. A friend of theirs was also seriously injured in the accident. The couple, who belonged to Northwood United Synagogue, had been staying at their holiday home in Dorset at the time.

A police report on the incident said Knowles was travelling at around 60 miles per hour in his mother’s Mercedes when he crashed. He pleaded guilty to two counts of causing death by dangerous driving.

Judge Samuel Wiggs said: “It should have been a happy day. They were minding their own business walking home from dinner on the pavement with their arms linked … There was no need to get into the car”.

The couple, who had been married for 28 years, was praised by their son, James: “They were a fantastic partnership and represented everything married life and parenting should be about”.